Life in the Slow Lane (The Pearl): July 2021

Chasing Waterfalls in New York

“A river cuts through a rock, not because of its power but because of its persistence.” –Jim Watkins

The best thing about having a rainy summer...lots of water at the falls. A lot of the smaller falls around upstate New York can be dry by July and August, but this year they are amazing. We've visited 18 waterfalls so far this summer. Eight of those were this past week while we took a short getaway to Cazenovia. All were on our way there and back to Ithaca. There are waterfalls everywhere up here.

Bucktail Falls - I think this was our favorite spot. Located right off the road and only a few locals were there. We were told there was a trail that led to at least five more falls, but we were on our way to Skaneateles for lunch and decided we would have to do the hike this time. This is one of the falls that becomes a trickle when the weather dries up. It was beautiful the day we were there.

Enchanted Hollow Falls - Some falls are spectacular, others are beautiful for where they are. These falls were small, but the hike was fun and it was a little bit of a challenge to find our way. The payoff was worth it. Everything was so green and lush.

Tinker's Falls - These falls are easy to get to, plenty of parking and a flat gravel trail until you reach the bottom of the falls. Steep, slippery steps lead to the back of the falls and that's where the challenge begins. These falls are a combination of falls the top drops about 50 to a rocky cascade of 30 ft.

Delphi Falls - These falls are located in a county park and very easy to get too. Swimming at our own risk is allowed and the park would be a great place to spend a warm summer day. Grills and picnic tables are available.

Chittenango Falls - These falls are in a state park right outside of Cazenovia. They can be viewed with little effort from the top, but the best way to really see how pretty they are is to hike down to the bottom.

Three Falls Woods - This area was wonderful to hike and explore. It’s named for the three major waterfalls, but there are many more to be discovered while you climb up, over and through the creeks.

Pratt's Falls - These falls are also located in a nice county park. There’s a viewing platform at the top, but it doesn't give you a very good view of the falls. The best way to see them is to take the steps down to the bottom...even here the park limits your access and the woods block some of the view.

Fellows Falls - I have seen beautiful pictures of these falls taken from the creek at the bottom of the falls, but we couldn't figure out how to get to the creek safely.

Green Lakes State Park

“Put your feet up, take a break, sit back, relax...you're at the lake.” -Anonymous

I've seen pictures and read about Green Lakes State Park since we arrived in Ithaca in 2017 and I've always wanted to go. This past week we had a chance to experience it for ourselves. What a truly beautiful unique place it is. Most lakes in upstate New York and around the world are dimictic lakes, which means they have a complete mixing of lake water in the fall and spring. Green Lake is a meromictic lake, which means its water layers do not intermix. No turnover in water means you can see all the way down to the bottom of the lake.

Green Lake resides in an ancient river basin, carved deep into the limestone bedrock by the last ice age. Limestone, an easily dissolved sedimentary rock, saturates the lake’s waters with calcium carbonate, a bluish salt solution. With the combination of the lake's great depth, high calcium carbonate concentrations, and photosynthetic bacteria, the lake maintains a bright aquamarine color.

Reefs of calcium/sulphur jut out from the lake basin, just below the surface of the lake. They look like light-brown rock or sand, extending out from the lake shore and then dropping off suddenly. They are most prominent near Dead Man’s Point.

The top of Deadman's Reef looks like rock, but it is actually a living reef that is still growing.

In the 1920s/early ’30s Green Lakes was a popular tourist destination for the city of Syracuse and surrounding towns. The Green Lakes Landing stop on the Erie Canal, brought tourists to the northern end of the park by boatload. Today, the land running along the Canal in Manlius is a park and walking/bike pathway.

Due to the sensitive nature of the lake, no outside boats are allowed. The best way to really enjoy the lake and see the reefs is to rent a kayak from the park. The water is so inviting, but you can only swim at the beach on the north shore, but the water isn't as beautiful there.

This video explains why the lake is green and why it's so unique.

July 20-23 - Cazenovia, NY

"We thought the best would be behind us, but the best keeps getting better all the time." -Allan Jackson

We spent our anniversary with Kyle and his family last week in Aurora, but we thought we should have a little get away of our own, so to celebrate our 40th anniversary we traveled to the quaint little town of Cazenovia. The town was founded in 1798 and sits on the southeast shore of Cazenovia Lake. It's a charming, picturesque, Norman Rockwell style village full of cute little shops, restaurants, wineries and breweries, a lake, beautiful homes and lots of waterfalls...a great spot for us to relax and explore. Cazenovia was named one of America’s Coolest Small Towns in 2020.

We stayed at an Airbnb close to the downtown area. We had the whole upstairs of this beautiful house. It made a great home base while we explored the area. While we were in Cazenovia we visited 8 waterfalls, spent a morning at Green Lakes State Park, visited the Lorenzo State Historic Site, did a little shopping, a little hiking and ate some wonderful food. I'll be doing separate posts on the waterfalls and Green Lake...since I have so many wonderful pictures to share.

Lakeland Park in Cazenovia seems to be the only place on this lake that is open for the public to swim. The town and the area around the lake are beautiful with huge impressive estates. A great place to have lake front property...if you can afford it.

Lincklaen House has been a historical landmark since 1835. For more than 180 years, the Oldest Grand Hotel in Central New York has provided a comfortable atmosphere, and extended gracious hospitality to all its visitors. The restaurant provides the town with a wonderful place for casual fine dining. We enjoyed our meals so much we actually came back a second night.

The first night Stan had the grilled salmon and I had the seafood Carbonara.

The Lorenzo House was completed in 1809, and was the home of the father of Cazenovia, John Lincklaen. The home overlooks the south end of the beautiful Cazenovia Lake. Lincklaens’ descendants lived in the house until 1968 when it was given to the state of New York.

The Brewster Inn is named after Benjamin Brewster, an American industrialist, financier, and one of the original trustees of Standard Oil. In 1890 Brewster built this summer home on the southern end of the lake and named it "Scrooby" after the English manor house where his ancestor William Brewster lived before setting sail on the Mayflower. This expansive mansion remains one of the largest homes Cazenovia has ever seen...and there are a lot of huge beautiful homes on the lake. Today it houses 4 dining rooms, a large kitchen and 9 guest rooms.

Our view with dinner...the end of July and we actually had to have the heaters on to be comfortable outside for dinner. Stan had the horseradish encrusted cod and I had the spicy lobster pasta...both were delicious.

On the way home from Cazenovia we drove up to Skaneateles to check out the Antique & Classic Boat Show and do a little browsing through the cute shops. Skaneateles is another cute town in upstate NY. We had a wonderful getaway.

Finger Lakes Breweries (Part IX)

Cortland Beer Company

CBC started as a grassroots effort to create a brewery in Historic Downtown Cortland. When they first opened in 2010 all beers were sold on a to-go basis and samples were available directly out of their brewing facility. In 2012 CBC made the commitment to become a farm brewery and use local ingredients to craft our products. As a farm brewery, they are now allowed to serve draughts and flights as well as kegs, growlers, and cans to go. All beers are brewed on-site.

CBC's outside patio

I enjoyed a glass of Heffer Weizer and Stan had a glass of their coconut chocolate brown ale.

Liquid State Brewing Company

Friends Ben Brotman and Jamey Tielens started Liquid State Brewing Company in 2016. They focus on creating high quality, small batch beers at their 20 hectoliter brewhouse. Their on-site beer hall offers their fresh ales and lagers as well as local wines, ciders and foods from around New York.

Ithaca Beer Co.

The brewery was founded in 1998 by Dan Mitchell and it's a family run operation. The brewery sits on a beautiful farm just outside the city of Ithaca. The facility contains a state of the art 50bbl brew system which produces about 20,000 barrels of beer per year. It's also home to the Taproom, a farm to table restaurant, highlighting local grown and raised ingredients.

In addition to a state of the art brewing facility, Ithaca Beer has fully automated packaging capabilities for bottling, canning and kegging. They distribute beer to over 40 wholesalers in 14 states from New England in the East to Ohio in the West and North Carolina to the South.